Through These Lupine Eyes of Mine, 2003 style
by One Septic Markiplite
Summary: Follow Asami through random, yet random episodes of the 2003 series. As with the 2012, I will take requests for any episode in this series. Dedicated to my AWESOME friend, HardyGal. She hasn't seen the 2003 TMNT. Yet. ;) Requests will be posted ASAP, so please put one in a review! Doesn't matter who you are, even a guest can ask for an episode!
1. s04s15 Scion of the Shredder

**HERE IS MY FIRST OFFICIAL ASAMI INSERTION IN THE 2003 SIDE OF THINGS!**

**THIS WAS AN PULSE-POUNDING EPISODE TO ME, AMD I AM CURIOUS AS TO HOW ASAMI FITS IN. LET'S FND OUT TOGETHER, SHALL WE? MWAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**THIS IS FOR YOU, HARDYGAL. ENOY! ;)**

**~LEOFAN221**

* * *

><p><em>Another day, another bout with the Dojo. <em>

_Master Splinter gave me a list of katas to do for the day, and i was getting tired, but in no way about to give up. _

_Funny, I bet Leo thought the same thing when doing all those katas._

_Leo...I hope he's alright, and that he comes back the same as before the final fight with the Shredder aboard that rocket thingy._

_I just hope the Ancient One can help Leo. _

_Alright, Falling Rain kata, then I'm done._

* * *

><p>I move my body through the kata flawlessly, and then I stretch my sore and slightly tired limbs before exiting to get something to eat.<p>

I'm starving!

As usual, Donnie's working on the Shell-sub, Raphie's punching his punching bag, and Mikey and Lupa are building an enormous card house on the living room table, seated at the couch. Well, Lups is observing, and handing Mikey cards as he needs them.

And Splinter is calmly observing all this from his place in his armchair.

"That is an...impressive edifice, Lupa and Michelangelo. Dare I ask how many hours you two have spent building it?" Father asks, and Mikey looks up from his careful placing of cards. Lupa chuckles, and opens her mouth to respond, but ends up getting beaten to the chase by Mikey.

"Good question, Sensei. Hey, Raph! What time is it?"

"Like I wear a watch?" Raph growls, looking away from his punching bag for once. "How should I know? Hey, Donnie! What time is it?" Raph asks roughly. Donnie didn't even look up from his work as he responded.

"Beats me. Ask Leo." I groan.

Somehow, Donnie keeps forgetting that we're down one sibling. It's a bit of a touchy subject. Then, realizing his mistake, Don switched off the blowtorch he was using, and turned to Sensei, who was grimacing.

It hadn't been easy on Sensei, sending his son on a journey with no garuntee that he made even made it where he needed to go.

Or any way of comunicating with him. I tip-toed toward the kitchen, intent on toast with peanut butter and jelly, with a side of milk.

"Sorry. Leo's been gone more than two months, and I still forget he's not here." Donnie said, hopping down from his creation. I pause, waiting to see dad's reaction. Raph and Donnie walked over to the couch. I was already near enough, so I didn't have to move that much to be close to everyone.

"Masta Splin'er, when's dat bum comin' back, anyway?" Raph asked, sounding a little frustrated.

"And is he coming back normal, or, like, more normal? Cus before he left, he was acting kinda, you know..." He trailed off, twirling his finger around his temple.

I reached over, and smacked Mikey. In sync with Raph.

"OW! Hey!" He said, before returning attention to Master Splinter.

"I do not know, my children." He said, regaining our complete attention. "Leonardo is on a pilgrimage to find the Ancient One. And to find answers." He continued, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Such things are beyond time."

"Well, I miss having him around." Donnie said.

"Yeah..." I breath.

_Especially on patrol. It's really hard to be a replacement Leo for my brothers, having to make snap decisions. _

_I stink at it. _

_In fact, it's probably a miracle that we're still alive. _

_Leo had better get back soon. I really miss him._

"As do we all. But we must have faith that he will return. When he is ready." Splinter concludes the conversation, and I went into the kitchen, and grabbed the bread and peanut butter from the pantry. Running over to the fridge, I grabbed the milk and raspberry jam.

Closing the door with my foot, I grab two slices of bread, and place them in the toaster. While I was waiting for it to go off, I got down a glass, and poured milk before returning the carton to the refrigerator.

Just as I finished spreading the jelly, the perimeter alarm went off. Stuffing the sandwich in my mouth, I ran out to see what the reason was.

Then, all of a sudden, it fizzled off.

Like someone had manually shut it off. Taking the hunk of bread out of my mouth, I swallowed hard, not wanting to fight with my mouth full. Popping into the kitchen, I quickly finished my bread, and downed my milk, while Don said something about how the alarm shouldn't have suddenly turned off.

"No duh, Donnie, but what caused the alarm in the first place!" Lupa snapped, just as I came sprinting out again, and Donnie kept talking, not having heard our sister.

"-unless somebody just deactivated my outer alarm system!" Donie said ominously. Suddenly, the front door shook like it had been rammed by something really heavy. Again, I gulped hard, though this time out of fear of the unknown enemy behind our door. _  
><em>

"What is that?" Mikey squeaks, drawing his weapons, along with his brothers.

"What are the odds it's just Leatherhead, and he tripped the alarm accidentally, then went crazy on it?" I whimpered, already holding my tomahawks.

"Not very high, sis." Lu-Lu says, sounding as scared as I feel.

"Not helping, sister dear." I retort, just as the pounding gets a shell of a lot harder, coming right at the front door.

"Whatevah it is, it's coming through da front door!" Raph growled.

"What was your first clue?" Lupa asks, and after a lot more pounding, the front door is bent, like something really big is trying to push our door aside to get in.

Wanting to meet the threat head on, we all gather near the Shell-Sub, facing the door, weapons gripped tightly, and faces grim. Finally, the front door collapses, followed by pretty much all the wall surrounding it. When the dust cleared mere seconds later, there stood two Foot Mechs, bold as brass, and ready to kick our buts. My jaw dropped, and my eyes went as wide as saucers.

This could. Not. Be happening.

This is our home.

This is where we are safe from our enemies.

SO WHAT ARE THEY DOING HERE?!

"What the-the Foot?!" Mikey cried, twirling his nunchucks.

'But how?! How did they find us?!" Don complained, miffed that they had. Same with all of us.

"That's what we all wanna know, Donnie!" Me and Lupa say in sync, as Foot ninja pour in from in between the Mech's huge legs.

"Don't mattah how dey found us! Dey found us, now let's kick the shell out of 'em!" Raph yelled, ready for a fight as always. We ran forward, and started fighting back the intruders. I smashed the handles of my tomahawks into two ninjas heads, and spin-kicked two more away. I caught another ninja's katana blade on my own tomahawks' blades, and disarmed him before kneeing him in the goods, then the chest, and swung my fist just in time to knock out yet another ninja's sloppy punch, twisting his arm, and throwing him over my shoulder.

"Get. Out. Of. MY HOUSE!" Raph hissed, fighting tooth and nail, as we all were.

Thinking quickly, i grabbed another ninja, and threw him, knocking over two more that were sneaking up on Lupa.

"AND DON'T TOUCH MY SISTER!" I scream, knocking out another two with a well aimed punch. Then, one came out of nowhere and kicked my into a pillar, right next to Michelangelo. We were surrounded by at least seven more ninjas.

"Whoa...I don't remember the Foot being this fast." My brother moaned. "Or this powerful. Everybody, Watch your backs!" Mikey called, as we beat the ninjas back and regrouped with everybody else.

"It's hard enough watchin' our fronts!" Raph retorted, taking out ninja as he spoke, before dodging a strike from one of the Mechs. He jumped up, right in time to avoid the bullets shot at him.

"Raph!" Donnie called, as he kept beating ninja. Raph fought his way over as Donnie kept talking.

"There are too many of them! We have to back off!" Don said, pretty much quoting my thoughts to the letter.

"Back off?!" Raph repeated, incredulous and mad. "This is OUR home." He said, putting emphasis on 'our home.'

We backed up to the Shell-Sub, and then, the ninjas parted, and there, in the doorway, came the thing of our nightmares.

The Shredder.

"Oh, Shell." Raph hissed, drawing back even further.

"No way." Don breathed, "It can't be HIM!" He squeaked, as we got ready to face our nemesis once again.

"Master Splinter?" Mikey asked, "Any change this is just another mystical attack?" He said, referring to the time the Foot mystics took control of our meditation, and made us think that Casey and April died, and that all our enemies were chasing us.

It had been awful, and not what was happening this time.

"No, my son. This is real. All too real."

With that realization, Donnie pointed out a very obvious, and very stupid fact.

"The Shredder?! But the Utroms sentenced him to exile!"

"Yeah? Well, it didn't take!"

Just then, the Foot elite appeared on either side of the armored menace at the door.

"Oroku Saki is gone, thanks to you!" The armor said, pointing an arm toward us, and I did a double take.

_That voice...It's Karai, but..._

_What is she doing in a female version of her father's armor?_

_Why?!_

"But the Shredder lives on!"

The helmet lifted to reveal Karai's smug Japanese face.

Knew it.

"Karai?!" Donnie cried.

Man, for the genius my brother is, he can't pick up on little things like this.

"So, the daughter of Oroku Saki had become the Shredder." Splinter noted, a look of pure hatred on his face. "Why?"

"Honor demands it, Splinter-san." She said, usual monotone to her voice. Normally, I'd have laughed, but this was far too serious a situation. "After you helped the vile Utroms exile my father, I vowed to avenge his honor." She explained, and I rolled my eyes.

"Fisrt you gotta HAVE honor to avenge, honey." I muttered under my breath.

Splinter offered no such thing. He very nearly screamed.

"You dare speak of honor? Your father killed my Master Yoshi! Your father had no honor!" Splinter growled, hand outstretched as if to strike her down.

"You will pay for your lie! ALL of you!" Karai cried, and waved her arm in our general direction. Then, she finally noticed the absence of our brother. "Where is Leonardo?"

_Wait...why would SHE wanna know?!_

_And why would she think WE know?!_

_Well, we are his family, so I guess we SHOULD know, but we don't, so..._

"He ain't here!" Raph growled before I had a chance to. I gripped my tomahawks in readiness, knuckles white from my grip on them.

"You know..." Mikey continued, coming from his position behind us, and addressing the armored woman before us, "you JUST missed him. But, if you leave right now, we'll let 'im know you stopped by!"

"You mock me. The fact you still lives mocks me!" Karai screeched. "That all ends! Now! Destroy them! Leave no one alive!" She ordered, and we went once more into the fray of ninjas. I jumped in sync with Lupa, up to the second floor of the house, but I was grabbed by my ankle, and I heard a popping noise as I fell, alongside pain. After I fell, I swatted away the Foot that had grabbed me, and then saw a Mech, heading for Mikey.

But before I could do anything about it, I was grabbed by the other Mech, and I heard definite cracks from at least three, possibly more, ribs as the hand tightened around my torso. I screamed, as the Mech that held me went, grabbed a pillar and tossed it toward Donatello.

"Donatello! AAHH!" I screamed again as the hand increased pressure on my waist. He gasped, and was about to help when he was shot at.

"NO!" Thankfully, he wasn't shot.

Then, Raph jumped on top of the Mech and commenced trying to 'open one of dese tin cans' as he so eloquently put it.

Unfortunately, he was thrown off, but I was able to wriggle my way out, accompanied by another scream as I had to move my ribs.

Splinter had been either forced toward his room, or he had simply been moving in that direction. I ran over as fast as I could, and stood guard as Splinter searched.

Then, he found what he was looking for, just as I was set upon by at least six ninja.

Almost instantly, one or two were down by a well aimed swing of my ninjaken handle, as my tomahawks were laying back where I was picked up.

Four more to go.

"Master Yoshi's orb!" Splinter called, then I suddenly sensed another presence, just a heavy, metal boot, descended and crushed the orb.

That I caught by the sound of shattering glass, and Splinter's cry of alarm, then growl of anger.

Three more. And my arm and leg was acting up, making me a little slower on the punch I had aimed at one ninja's skull.

"Your children destroyed my father."

"And I'm not regretting it, lady." I muttered, then cried out as the ninja had caught my arm and twisted it.

"Now I will repay them in kind!"

"Oh, no...you...won't." I grunted. Wrenching my arm away, I bashed him with my body, as both an arm and a leg were basically out of commission.

One to go, but I was so tired, and hurt.

"I begged Leonardo to let him go, but he would not listen to reason!"

"It is YOU who has been blind to reason! Your father was a murderer! But you would not allow yourself to see the truth!" Splinter snapped in response.

"I see clearly, rat. And you will pay for what you have done to me!"

"WHAT?! He hasn't done anything to you!" I screeched, as I tried a kick, much to my leg's disagreement. It had been swatted aside painfully. I drew back slightly, gaining a little breathing room.

"I reached out to you! I had hoped that you would turn away from evil, but I see now that it has consumed you!"

A slash, then Splinter's groan, quickly followed by my whimper as my punch connected with it's prey.

JEEZ, my arm hurt.

"You're faster than your father. I will give you that. But your dark heart heart will betray you, just as his did!" Splinter snapped.

Then, my only warning was a slashing sound before Splinter crashed into me. My ninja friend had run off, and I was trapped under my dad. I struggled to control my breathing as Karai walked calmly over, through the fire, which only added to the overall chilling effect of her mere presence here in my home.

"You are not worthy to even speak of my father, rodent." Karai said as she picked up father.

Ignoring my injuries, I rolled away, came up, and kicked at that she-demon currently holding Master Splinter. She simply kicked my diaphragm, and I went flying across the Lair, only stopping when I crashed into the opposite wall.

Now I definitely had broken ribs.

Black spots danced around my vision, before growing bigger, and I was lost to the darkness, just as Raphael and Donatello saved Splinter from Karai.

* * *

><p>Pain was the first thing I was aware of.<p>

Then, as my eyes opened, harsh light lanced straight to the back of my skull. I felt my arms pinned to my sides by ratty rope that dug into my skin, and there was a Foot ninja, tying a knot.

I risked a quick glance around to find that I was tied to the model fire escape, out in plain view. In fact, if anyone came in, I would be the first thing they would see. As the rope was tightened mercilessly, a scream ripped out from my throat, as the rope squeezed my ribs, and it hit me. She was still after Leo...and was stringing me up in plain view. Oh, no.

I took deep breaths, just as the black spots returned. They disappeared slightly when Karai talked to her little cronies about how much they needed to hunt down my family, for the sake of her father's fake honor, and all that junk. I gritted my teeth, and bit back the snarky comments bubbling up from my mind as she spoke. When her minions had gone about their assigned duties, Karai looked up at me, and I could almost see the smug look on her face.

"You, canine, will be bait for Leonardo when he returns. His fake honor will cause him to attempt to save you, but this Foot Mech will make sure he is destroyed as soon as he steps into this Lair. The last thing he will see is your small, broken form, above him, then the Mech will strike out his heart!" Karai taunted, walking out with a overconfident air, and I passed out yet again.

_Man, Leo really needs to get back here. _

_Just hope he's...better than he was before he went to...the Ancient One...ooww..._


	2. Hunted s03e07

**HERE IS AN ITERLUDE WHILE I WORK THROUGH _PRODIGAL SON_. **

**ENJOY, NO FLAMERS, AND ALL THAT CRAP!**

**THIS WAS REQUESTED BY MIKEYSGIRL135, BY THE WAY, AND NOW I'M DOING IT. HINT, HINT...**

**SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED A LIFE THAT I HAVE TO GET BACK TO EVERY ONCE AND AWHILE. ;)**

**~LF221**

"I cannot tell you what a welcome relief it is to be among friends." Leatherhead said, as he gingerly held a teacup out, receiving tea with a grateful look. "Master Splinter, Asami, your hospitality knows no bounds." I smiled warmly at our friend, sipping my own tea. This was a serene time for the three of us, free of distractions from my rambunctious siblings.

"You're our friend, Leather-head. Our home is your home, as the saying goes." I said, sipping my tea slowly.

"Indeed. You are welcome to live here, with us, as long as you wish, Leatherhead." Master Splinter replied smoothly, just before the door slid open, revealing Leo, who held two practice Katana like he wanted to...

_Oh.*sigh* he wants LH to spar with him. Again._

He has asked our friend to spar with him at least once a day since we brought him back with us from Bishop's laboratory, where he had been tortured relentlessly for weeks before we showed up, coincidentally arriving at the right lab that night.

_It still gave me shivers._ _We had been captured by mysterious men wearing black that claimed to be the military, but obviously weren't. We were nearly dissected at the hands of some Government Agent who insisted we call him Bishop. When Splinter somehow showed up to get us out of there, along with April and Casey, we just barely escaped alive! But I'm not gonna think about that right now..._

"Leather-head, could you help me with my sparing?"

_Heh. Called it. _

I thought, sipping my tea with a smirk on my face. Then, Donatello appeared right behind Leo, and my smirk turned to an annoyed frown. "Hey, LH, can you help me with this hydro-compressor I'm working on?" He said, before Raph showed up. The frown deepened.

"Croc man. Wrestle rematch. No holds barred." Then, as if that wasn't enough, Mikey and Lupa appeared and offered their excuse to hang with our mutant ally. Apparently, Mikey was the ringmaster, because Lupa just stood there, grinning winningly.

"Big guy, the new issue of _Justice Force vs Team Solaris _just came out. We'll let you read it."

"Knock it off, guys." I warn, frown turning into a serious grimace of warning. This was getting out of hand...

"As you can see, we all enjoy your company. Perhaps a little too much." Splinter said, giving a slight glare toward the five mutants. Our friend often told us how overwhelmed he often felt while running around after my foolish siblings. That's most likely why he looked so resigned as he sighed and started to rise. I gently placed my teacup on the low Japanese style table before grabbing Leather-head's arm.

"You know you don't have to..." I whisper, but Leather-head merely subtly shook his head.

"No, it is fine, Asami, I-" He had forgotten to put the teacup back, and had accidentally crushed it as he steadied himself with his hand. He instantly started stammering apologies, but the situation was made worse when Leather-head's tail swung and shattered the teapot. I sprinted out to the closet, which really wasn't that far away at all, grabbed a broom, and was back in Splinter's room before he was done apologizing. Raph walked over, devilish grin on his face. Before I could stop him, he nudged Leather-head, who was still trying to pick up the broken cup pieces around the broom I was using.

"Heh-heh. Like a giant croc in a china shop." Instantly, I knew Raph had said the wrong thing. I just saw Leather-head's eyes turn that green color they always do when he loses control. Leather-head rose, dusted the shards quickly off his hands, and shoved Raph back a few feet.

"That is not funny! I did not mean to break it!" Leather-head cried, pushing Raph again back before advancing on him as Raph backed up nervously.

"Whoa, Leather-Head. I was just jokin'!" Raph pleaded. I made no move to stop Leather-head. Raph, and everyone else for that matter, needs to know when to back off our friend.

"Everything is not a joke! I am not a joke!" Leather-head growled in response. "I am not a joke!" He cried again before pressing Raph out of his way, and crashing through the rice paper door, running to hid behind a pillar not too far away. I finish sweeping the broken shards up, and ran out quickly to throw the shards into a box, pushing Raph slightly out the door as I did so.

"Whuh?" He muttered.

"Nice going, Jerk-asarus Rex!" I reply, indicating our now sad friend as the last shards clinked into a box. Raph looked a little saddened at the frankly depressing picture our friend made, hunched over, looking like he was trying to hide from us. Raph, thankfully, took the hint. He slowly walked over, leaving the rest of us to peer slowly out of the hole in the wall.

"Uh, is it me, or did Leather-head overreact just a little bit?" Don asked, still holding the small machine he had been attempting to entice Leather-head to help him with. I glared at him, still holding the box of glass shards. I ran over and handed him the box so that he could try to fix the cup, if he wanted to. And then I sprinted back to Raph and the others.

"Just you." I say, and Don's confused look merely increased.

"How so?" He asked, as we slowly made our way over to our friend. I rolled my eyes. These guys were totally blind sometimes.

"Well...can't you see how much Leather-head has been doing with and for us, at our request?"

"Yeah...your point?" Don asked, the confusion still clearly written on his face. I face-palmed.

"So he got overwhelmed, and accidentally let it out on Raph just now. And if you guys had slowed down with the one on one with him, you'd see he values peace and serenity as much as being with friends." I said, raising my voice as much as I dared.

"Come on. We'd better see what we can do." Leo said, sounding the right amount of guilty. Leather-head had somehow already nearly completed fitting the shards together. We were nearing Leather-head, and Mikey motioned Raph forward. I nodded toward Leather-head, spurring him on, I hope.

"UH, L-H? I'm...sorry big guy." Raph says awkwardly. "I didn't mean to-" Leather-head merely cut him off.

"No, friend. I am sorry. My temper had gotten so much worse, since the tortures I endured in Agent Bishop's laboratory." Our crocodile friend says, completely unnecessarily, rubbing his head like he always does when mentioning Area 51. Raph inched nearer and put a comforting hand on Leather-head's shoulder.

"It's okay. I understand." My brother said, giving the shoulder a few pats. "You know, some people say I've got a little problem keeping my cool." Raph continued, hand now on his belt. Mikey got an evil grin on his face as he stood up from behind the chair he and Leo had been crouching behind, should Leather-head get violent again. I wish they hadn't hid from Leather-head. It only seemed to make matters worse.

"Hey, you do Raph. But, _man_, you shoulda seen Leather-head. He was like a raging Wolverine with a-" Me and Leo reached over simultaneously and smacked Mikey for not being more sensitive to our friend's still perturbed emotions.

"Ow!" He cried. I just glared at him.

"I seem to have no control over it." Leather-head continued, and I instantly forgot my annoyingly insensitive brother. "Whatever Bishop did to me in his genetics Laboratory, it seems as though a part of me has separated from my mind. My animal side grows stronger. I am sorry." Leather-head said, placing the final piece of the cup delicately back into it's place. "I do not know what to do." He confessed. I frowned. I felt so bad for our poor friend, an advanced mind, trapped in the body of a brute. I shudder just thinking about what happened in that lab...before we were brought into the lab...and Splinter rescued us with Casey and April. He had looked nearly broken when Bishop sadistically pulled out the cot he had Leather-head on. He was covered in bandages, and was so weak, he could hardly move.

"It's going to be okay, Leather-head." Leo said, his hand on our friend's shoulder. "We'll work through it."

"You'll see. Everything is gonna be just fine." Don added, hand on Leather-head's other shoulder, giving it a few pats. Lupa and Mikey grinned.

"Except for that teapot." They chimed in unison. Don flicked Mikey's forehead ("Ow!) and Leo pulled Mikey's mask tails while I tweaked Lupa's ears ("OW!"). Raph just growled.

"What?" They asked. And then groaned as I went off to get dinner ready. I heated up canned soup, adding some spices such as salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder to taste. After dinner, which was slightly awkward, but enjoyable none the less, Splinter retired to the TV area. I joined him after clearing the table. It was the news.

"_And in a ceremony today, the Mayor of New York gave the key to the city to our newest hero. Entrepreneur and inventor Oruko Saki has pledged his time and unlimited funds to help rebuild our fair town. With friends like Oruko Saki, New York City will be back to her full glory in no time at all." _

"Imagine if they knew who he _really _was. 'Friend of New York City' my butt." I muttered. 

"Shredder." Splinter growled menacingly, taking it a step further. I settled down to watch for awhile before I reached for my Shell-Cell and checked the time. It was a lot later than I thought. I said goodnight to Splinter, and headed off to bed. I saw Leather-head arrange the armchair as a makeshift bed. Still feeling guilty about earlier, I walked over.

"You can have my room, Leather-head. It'll be a lot more comfortable. Plus, you'll actually fit on it." I joke, but Leather-head simply sits down.

"That won't be necessary, Asami. I appreciate the concern, but this chair will be fine. Thank you." He says. I sigh, and wish him goodnight.

=#=#=#=

I was suddenly awake, unsure of what woke me. Then, there was a groaning noise, coming from downstairs, too deep to be anyone but Leather-head. Poor guy must be having a nightmare. I met Mikey at the foot of the stairs, and found that he had the same idea. Sure enough, Leather-head was tossing and turning, in an obvious nightmare. Mikey went over and started shaking our friend.

"Wake up, Leather-head. You were having a nightmare." Mikey coaxes, only getting more shifting and moaning as a response.

"Leather-head..." He tried again, even as a lime-green eyed, half conscious croc grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him forward. "Wake up!" He cried, before being slammed into the pillar nearest the armchair. I ran over, trying to get our friend to calm down, but he simply backhanded me away before slamming me back several feet with his tail. The spikes cut into my abdomen, and I could only watch as Leather-head raised Mikey high above his head easily, and slammed him down.

"Leather-head...it's me, Mikey!" Mikey cried, helplessly suspended, just before impact with a heavy cry of pain. I clutched my side and stood as Leather-head growled, and raised his fists, as if challenging someone to try and hurt him. This continued for a few minutes before he gasped, coming out of his primal state, only to find a bleeding me, and an unconscious Mikey, laying not three feet in front of him. He put the pieces together quickly. The blood on his tail, Mikey's still body lying too close to suggest anything but violence on Leather-head's part...and my bleeding side. His eyes widened in shock and horror. My arms flew to cover my wound, but it was too late. Leather-head had already seen it.

"What have I done?! What have I-" He cried, hands flying to the sides of his head. "Michelangelo! Asami! No!" He cried, tears pricking his face. He dropped to his knees, cradling Mikey's body as I stood up, and stumbled over to put a hand on his arm comfortingly. That, and I needed the support.

"I'm sorry." He said, eyes still on Mikey. I frowned. How could Leather-head blame himself for something he has no control over?

"It wasn't your fault, Leather-head. It's okay..."

"I'm so sorry." He continued, unable to hear me. I looked up sharply at the sound of running footsteps, and saw Leo, Raph, Lupa, Don, and Splinter standing near the stairs up to the second floor. I waved for them to stay, then placed a finger on my lips. The last thing Leather-head needs is an audience right now. Especially one that doesn't have the whole story. Cries of both 'Michelangelo!' and 'Mikey!' rang out from everyone, having not seen me. I groan softly, hoping Leather-head hadn't heard me. Everyone surged forward, but Splinter held up his arms, and they halted.

"Leather-head, what happened?" He asked, managing not to sound accusing. I shot my father a grateful look, and he gave me an understanding one in return.

"I'm a monster. A horrible monster." our friend said miserably. My hand was on his arm again in a heartbeat.

"No. You're not." I said firmly.

"Get back, all of you." He suddenly said, releasing Mikey and standing up, eyes still wide with terror. As he stood, he moved me toward the others gently with his tail, careful not to use the spiked side. He held me as far as possible, despite my efforts to return to his side. This was the last thing he should have to face alone. He didn't get that, though. He started backing away, still facing us.

"I'm not safe. Not safe!" He continued backing away, eyes widening. As he turned, I reached for his arm, to stall him, at least, but he accidentally used the swing of his arms to smack me back. I landed hard on my back, just barely hearing Leather-head's final cry of 'I'm a monster!' as he ran out into the sewers alone. Raph went instantly to Mikey, who still hadn't moved. I heaved myself up, leaning on Lupa as I walked over to my family gathered around Mikey, concern showing clearly on their face. Raph gripped Mikey's head and had his other arm over his brother's plastron.

"Mikey. Come on, bro. No." He whispered when he received no response. "Oh, please, Mikey. Say somethin'." Raph pleaded, voice uncharacteristically soft and slightly cracked. Mikey was still. I was starting to get more and more concerned as the seconds ticked by, slow as syrup. Then, Mikey's eyeridge twitched. Then again. I let out the breath I don't remember holding.

"I guess I'm lucky you didn't give me mouth to mouth." Mikey noted wryly. Raph flinched at the implications of Mikey's statement. He dropped Mikey unceremoniously. ("He's fine.") I laughed.

"Ow!" Mikey cried, to relieved laughter from me and Lupa. Raph was right. He _was _fine. Splinter then looked around, confused at this sudden turn of events.

"Will someone please tell me what happened?" He asked, a slightly harsh undertone to his voice. I gestured for Mikey to take the floor. I couldn't bring myself to talk badly about our friend, even when he wasn't around. Mikey rubbed the back of his head as he spoke.

"Well...Leather-head was having some kinda nightmare." He said, still rubbing his head. "Then he totally wigged out!" Then, another thought occurred to him, even as he looked around, as if expecting to see Leather-head standing among us. "Where is he? I gotta see if he's okay!" I slumped, not up to telling Mikey what he had literally just missed. Thankfully, Leo came up from behind Mikey and took care of it for me.

"He disappeared into the sewers." He said simply. Don was next to add a thought.

"I think he thinks you're..." Here, he sliced his fingers across his throat, meaning 'dead.' "Ya know." He finished.

"Oh, man. Poor Leather-head." Mikey said, shaking his head, as if in denial of what he had heard.

"Yeah...and we were sorta manipulative toward him, too..." Lupa added gloomily.

"We gotta find 'im!" Raph cried. "Let 'im know Mikey's okay." He added.

"Yes." Splinter agreed. "But be careful! There are parts of his nature he can no longer control." Splinter cautioned. "He may see you as siblings, or as enemies." He added ominously. I gulped. I hated the thought of fighting Leather-head. He was our friend. With a side of his being he was losing control of, quickly. Which was all the more reason to get him back here. The best thing is to be around friends, not out in the unknown sewers, where anything could happen. We left for the sewers, following Leather-head's scent. But that was soon irrelevant, as we saw his tracks.

"You okay, Ami?" Lupa asked, as we walked along beside Leather-head's tracks.

"Yeah...I'm good. Why?" I asked. Lupa was looking me with a concerned gaze. My side had clotted, so I wasn't bleeding anymore, but there was blood stains on my shirt. I found that I wasn't the only one gazing at it.

"He just nicked me with his tail, Lu-lu. Nothing to worry about." I said, and kept walking, letting Lupa know discussion was over on this point. Up ahead, there was a rat investigating a piece of some kinda bread. For some reason, Raph threw a shuriken to discourage the little guy.

"It's Leather-head." Raph said, hand resting on the track directly in front of him.

"And he's not alone." Mikey added, pointing to some odd tracks, running alongside our friend's footprints. It looked like a cart had been running alongside someone. Wearing boots. I narrowed my eyes. Someone was following Leather-head. That alone was bad, never mind the motives. "He's bein' followed."

"Who would be down here?" Leo asked no one.

"I don't like this..." Donnie added, again to no one in particular. I was getting more and more nervous as this went on. Who was following Leather-head? The only thing I can tell about the follower is that he is a male. Judging by both the scent of manly deodorant, cologne, and the depth of the footprints. Women don't leave footprints this deep.

"We'd better stick to the shadows." Leo ordered, eyes narrowed dangerously. I nodded.

"We can do that. We're ninja, remember?" Mikey said cheerfully, waving his hand as he got into a basic stance, grin wide. We moved out, following the tracks from the cover of the deep shadows the sewers were full of.

_Wait a minute...did I just hear beeping? _

_I think I just heard beeping! _

_What the heck?!_

I thought, but knew I couldn't afford to announce this revelation to the others without jeopardizing this mission, so I merely glanced at Lupa, who returned my concerned gaze. I mouthed 'did you hear beeping,' and she nodded. Good. I wasn't going crazy. I was pondering possible reasons for the beeping I heard when we came across a running stream. We hopped across, and found Leather-head's marks easily. They were faint, but the odd man's tracks were anything but.

"Leather-head's marks are faint." Mikey noted, "But whoever this guy following him is, he sure is easy to track."

"Yeah...Perhaps a little too easy." Don and I muttered together.

"Jynkx!" I whispered with a smirk. Don frowned at me. Raph continued walking, heedless of the...

RED, GLOWING LASER RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM!

Before I could warn him, he had stepped into it. Thankfully, he didn't lose his leg, but these odd-looking stick things popped up right in front of him. And fired lasers that would definitely hurt. Raph dodged away as the rest of us pulled out our weapons, and deflected the bolts away. Then, as if this situation needed to get worse, two more popped up behind us. We turned sideways to avoid getting hurt.

"Let's take these things down!" Leo ordered.

"Ya don't gotta tell me twice!" Raph snapped, whipping his sai around to deflect multiple bolts. He jumped up, and threw his sai into two of the three original ones. He distracted it as Leo sliced it down. I was covering for Lupa, who had gotten nicked by a stray bolt. Don just glanced at the wound, and resumed fighting, so I assume it wasn't bad. Mikey and Donnie took out the other two with ease. Mikey smacked the pole the firing mechanism had been housed on a few times, shortening it as though it could grow back and keep firing at us.

"Whoa..." He panted, "what were those things?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Dunno." I replied.

"More importantly," Don added, "What were they doing there?!" He asked, hands raised in a confused manner. We continued down the tunnel. I got the chilling feeling that those weren't the only harmful things on this path.

"Whoever's tracking Leather-head, he's playing for keeps." Leo noted grimly. We walked on through the stream, hearts thumping and adrenaline flowing. Then, I saw a glittering piece of metal, too big to be trash, stuck to the bottom of the tunnel. That only meant one thing, though I prayed that somehow, it wasn't what I thought it was. But I knew that I was right.

_Mines?!_

_Really?! This guy really is desperate for prizes here. _

I thought, as Raph confirmed the presence of mines before I could utter one syllable. Leo, oblivious Leo, didn't register the warning 'til it was too late. I heard the sickening sound of a mine being activated.

"Leo!" I cried, heart tempo increasing. If he so much as sneezed...we could all be toast.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Leo admonished himself. "I can't believe I stepped on a mine!"

"That makes two of us." Raph growled. Mikey looked slightly panicked as the beeping of the mine continued.

"Donnie! Deactivate it!" Mikey and I cried, pointing to the mine under Leo's foot. Don was also looking panicked, which wasn't making me any less uneasy.

"Okay," He said, taking out both his Bo, and a shuriken. "This is gonna take a steady hand, a great sense of timing, and a whole lotta luck." Don said, probably steeling himself as he walked over to a scared looking Leo, handing his staff to Mikey. He placed the shuriken into the arch of Leo's foot, making sure he didn't move the foot itself.

"Careful!" Lupa called. I smacked her.

"Not helping, sister." I growl.

"Mikey, the Bo staff." Don called. "Okay, Leo, step off after three." He said, adding the staff on top of the shuriken, and starting to count. Mikey slipped the shuriken over just as Leo lifted his foot. Donnie stood and joined as, along with Leo.

"Mikey...keep constant pressure on that Bo staff." Donnie ordered. The others all shared an evil grin.

"Okay...now what?" Mikey asked. Everyone turned around, and threw their arms around each other.

"Now...Leo, Lupa, Raph, Asami and I go get some lunch." Don said, and the guys chuckled.

"Guys...don't leave me here!" Mikey cried, which stopped my laughter. "Guys!" Mikey repeated. "This isn't funny!" he said, looking at the staff like it was a nuclear bomb. Donnie suddenly looked concerned. Leo patted his brother's plastron comfortingly.

"I'll get him." Leo chuckled. He returned to the staff, and gripped it, making sure not to change the amount of pressure on the staff. "Go on, Mikey. I'll be right behind you." Leo said. There was a sudden serious edge to his voice that I didn't like. Mikey was hugged by Lupa when he made it back to us. Then, Don had to break them apart, and indicate a hiding place as Leo took a few deep breaths, and wiped his brow. I crouched next to Don, as Leo flipped over the staff, and lifted the mine at the same time, causing it to fly up, and explode, which set off all the other mines in the vicinity. For a dreadful moment, I had lost sight of Leo, then I saw a fluttering of blue, and there he was, running toward us as if there was a fire under his shell. Don grabbed him, and pulled him to safety as he misjudged the jump over our lump of concrete. After a few more loud bangs, all was still. We cautiously came out from behind the lump.

"Next time, Leo..." Raph said after a few seconds of tense waiting, "Watch where yer puttin' those big feet ah yers!" Raph scowled.

"It's not like he meant to step on it, Raph." I said, shaking my head.

"Fact remains, though." Raph retorted.

"What kinda whack-bag would put mines in a sewer?!" Mikey demanded.

"Exactly!" Lupa added, arms in the air dramatically.

"The kind of whack-bag that knows he's being followed." Don said ominously. I nodded, and gulped. This was getting crazier by the moment.

...And all of a sudden, the sewers were a lot creepier than normal. We walked along the tunnels with a lot more caution than what should have been appropriate. It payed off as we were able to spot lasers, criss-crossing the tunnel just up ahead. Donnie picked up a brick unnecessarily, and threw it into the lasers, where it promptly disintegrated.

"Just one false move..."Don cautioned.

"And it's turtle flambe." Mikey finished in a whimper. Lupa and I gulped.

"Can't be any worse than Leonardo-of-the-land-mines." Raph retorted snidely. Leo growled, and crossed his arms.

"Ha-ha. Very funny, Raphael. You try avoiding mines sometime!" Lupa retorted.

Raph nudged Leo's elbow. "Just kidding, bro." He said with a slightly nervous chuckle. "You go first." Raph suggested.

"My pleasure." Leo retorted with a cocky grin.

_Speaking of avoiding mines, and lasers...This guy is totally insane! Why on earth would he want to put lasers in the sewers?! It's just ridiculous. Honestly...ugh. _

I thought as Leo ran forward, and executed a fancy flip to evade the deadly lasers. I rolled my eyes.

_Showoff. My brother is a class-A show off. _

I thought, as everyone started clapping. I was next to flip over the lasers, bouncing once off the wall, and landing in a crouch beside Leo.

"Nicely done, guys." Mikey and Lupa chirped. Leo waved them forward.

"Come on!" Leo called, and we were already moving onward down the tunnel. A second later, the others were on the opposite side of the lasers. Leo and I were next to clap.

"Show offs." We scolded with a chuckle. We walked down the tunnel, already feeling more confident. I mean, what else could this guys throw at us?

...Hmm...I will probably regret that thought, but whatever. The tunnel ended at a drainage junction. The swirling water was roaring, Leather-head was swinging...Wait...WHAT?!

Sure enough, Leather-head was swinging, tied up right below the main walkway...upside-down.

"Oh, no! Leather-head!" Me and Lupa cried. Don also cried out our friend's name.

"What the shell?" Leo asked rhetorically.

"Come on..." Raph said, "We gotta get him down from dere!" He cried, even as we all jumped down, and walked along the walkway quickly in the direction of our captive friend. I suddenly got a shiver up my spine, and saw a glint of...something that looked suspiciously like a gun barrel...pointed directly at Lupa and Mikey! I dove forward, grabbing Lupa as Leo clutched Mikey. A bullet thudded into the walkway where the two youngest mutants had just been.

"No!" Leo and I cried, and we were instantly leaping up to where the shot had originated.

Shots rang out, easily dodged. Me and Leo leaped up before anyone else, and knocked the man back, even as he fired two more shots, one hitting a robot that looked similar to R2-D2 from Star Wars, the other one slicing through the ropes holding Leather-head aloft.

"NNOO!" I screamed.

"Go!" Leo growled, as he grappled with the clearly Australian hunter.

"We gotta save Leather-head!" Mikey cried, and I shot Leo an apologetic glance before diving after our friend. The water was a little disorienting, but I was able to quickly locate the others, struggling to lift Leather-head out of the water. It didn't take long for Leo to arrive, as well. As we all were pulling Leather-head against the current, Don swam back down to the fan generating this whirlpool, and thrust his staff into it. It was shredded for a moment before becoming lodged in the metal blades, which slowed down a bit. Without the current, it was much easier to get Leather-head up to the surface. I took several deep breaths, many more than my brothers, being a wolf, not a turtle. It stinks sometimes, and a source of non-stop teasing. Raph and Mikey, who had been holding Leather-head's upper body, laid it down gently on the concrete edge to the now much stiller pool of sewage. Leo came over, and sliced through the ropes around our friend's ankles and wrists, while I sat down, still panting.

_I swear, water is bad for wolves. Especially if they have to be submerged for extended periods of time. Ugh. I hate it. The water. Even if it's warm water, if I have to swim for a long time...it just makes my skin wrinkle, and with fur, it makes my body feel odd. Like goosebumps, only worse. Much worse. _

I thought, shaking myself off, spraying Lupa and Mikey as I did.

"Hey!" They cried in unison.

"Sorry." I replied, and turned my attention to Leather-head, who was starting to come around. I motioned Mikey forward, and indicated a position that would allow for him to be the first thing Leather-head sees when he opens his eyes. It would be the best thing for him right now. I mean, who knows what went through his mind while he ran through the sewers? I can only imagine, but I think it might have something to do with guilt. And lots of it. I crouched next to Mikey, as I was the only other one hurt in his rage. I made sure that I was smiling, to show Leather-head that I forgave him, and hoped Mikey did the same. I think he was smiling, but my attention was grabbed by Leather-head's groaning and coughing as he slowly opened his lime-green eyes.

"Leather-head? You okay?" Mikey and I asked, Mikey waving a worried hand across the giant croc's eyes.

"Michelangelo? Asami?" He asked almost immediately, eyes widening in relief and elation. "Is it you?" He asked, voice betraying his emotions. He sat up, and encased me and my brother's shoulders in a tight grip. "You're alright!" He cried, nearly tearing up, he was so relieved.

"Of course we're alright!" We chimed back, smiling wider than ever. "You didn't hit us that hard!" I added, as Raph helped him up.

"Yeah, and anyway," He said, smirking, "we're a pretty thick-skinned bunch." suddenly, Leather-head's eyes narrowed, and he looked around, as if searching for something, or—probably more accurate—some_one_.

"You must be careful!" He advised, still gazing around with those sharp, dangerous looking eyes. "There is a hunter in these-"

"We know." Leo cut him off, hands up. "Let's just get you outta here." Leo ordered. "We'll deal with him." He added, looking over his shoulder toward the past place we saw that odd, Australian man. We were back up there in seconds.

"Hey, looks like the Great White Hunter up and skedaddled!" Mikey noted, gazing at the hunter's hat in confusion. That was the only evidence (besides our memories) that he had ever been here.

"Thanks, Master of the Obvious." I growled, searching for a scent, a footprint, anything that would tell us where that guy went. Mot much there, and our tracks were scattered around, making discerning what tracks were ours, and which ones were the hunters nigh on impossible, even with Lupa helping me. Normally, we'd be running through the sewers after him by now, but with our scents still _very _fresh, and our tracks muddling any others, we were left with nothing to go on.

"Then let's get the shell outta here." Don replied, as we walked away. I stood on one side of Leather-head, hoping that my presence would help calm his clearly rattled emotions and nerves.

"You okay?" I asked, placing a hand on his forearm worriedly.  
>"I...will be, when we're away from this place." He replied after a moment.<p>

"I think we _all _will be better off when we get outta here." I commented. We continued on in companionable silence.

Suddenly, as we exited the drainage junction, I was assaulted with the _very _strong scent of cologne, and sweat. Lupa and I sneezed, the sound resounding off the tunnel walls, echoing almost eerily. Oh, CRAP!

"Don't. Move!" The hunter growled, holding his sparking rifle in his hands, ready to fire. " I finally gotcha!" he boasted, stalking ever closer as we backed up. I stood in front of Leather-head, tomahawks already in my hands, ready to fight to defend my friend to the death, if necessary. "You lot 'urt Emilia. And Betsy 'ere, she goin' critical, she is." He continued. My eyes narrowed in anger. This guy was going to pay for what he did, what he wanted to do, to my friend. "She's not gonna make it!" He complained.

"You're _that_ concerned about your gun?!" I cried incredulously. The man ignored me, however.

"And she's takin' us all with 'er!" He boasted, as if proud of his gun. "She's jes' that type ah gal." I blinked. This guy...treated his gun like it was alive. That was a little creepy. Well, more than a little creepy, really. By now, we were on the catwalk across the whirlpool, which was still inactive, thanks to Don. "Personally, I don' really mind. Dat's deh 'unt." He said, with a small shrug. "Sometimes, yeh get the croc, sometimes the croc gets you." He went on, walking ever closer as we backed up. This guy was officially insane! I mean, he puts freaking MINES in the SEWERS! Who does that?! "It's a shame, really. No one will know dat with my last breath, I hunted down seven uh da most amazing animals I've evah seen!" Boy, was _that _the wrong thing to say. I leaped forward, in synch with Leather-head, and grappled with the man's gun, attempting to wrench it from his frankly quite string hands.

"Leather-head! Ami!" Mikey and Lupa cried, "NO!" He cried, but it seemed far away. I was utterly focused on protecting my family from this insane hunter. I would never let him touch them, even if I died doing so. I knew Leather-head felt the same way as we thrust ourselves over the edge of the catwalk, heedless of everyone running after us, but they never got to us before we let the man go to his fate below the water. Leather-head had grabbed the underside of the catwalk, and had me dangled over his forearm. I watched as the gun exploded, most likely killing that evil hunter. Right after the explosion, my ears were ringing, as they were a bit sharper than normal. So when Leather-head's mouth moved suddenly a few moments after the explosion, I was confused. Then, as the ringing faded as quickly as it had started, I shifted onto Leather-head's shoulders and he heaved the both of us back up onto the catwalk.

"-error, Donatello." was all I heard. Within a minute, we were returning home, with Leather-head walking among us. I couldn't be happier. This is just what Leather-head needs.

"Let's go home, guys." Leo ordered. Leather-head stopped. I bumped into him, having been both behind him, and deep in thought.

"UFF!" I cried, holding my aching nose as I picked myself up off the floor.

"No." Leather-head said, "I cannot. I simply will not risk staying with you."

"It's no risk, buddy." I replied, concerned hand on my friend's shoulder. "Really. We would love to have you stay with us." I continued, but the croc gently shrugged my hand off.

"What about my temper? My anger? What if I can't control it? What if I had really hurt Michelangelo or Asami?" He continued, and my face turned sad. "Or worse?"

"We're a thick-skinned brood, friend. In the meantime, we'll-"

"We'll help you. You'll learn how to control it" Don cut me off.

"What he said." me and Lupa replied wryly, leaning against each other's shoulders. Raph came forward next.

"Yeah, you can do it. I mean, look at Mikey." He said, smile on his face, pointing to the orange banded turtle. "He's learned to live with that face." Leather-head placed a hand on Raph and Mikey's shoulders.

"I _want _to stay with you, but I cannot risk it." He said, and spun on his heel. Don suddenly stepped forward, and gripped his chin thoughtfully.

"You know...I think I have the solution!" He cried, causing Leather-head to turn back around. I gave him a smile, and he returned it with a sad, half-hearted smirk.

"Yeah...just follow me and Don!" I cried, and lept off down the tunnel, leaving my family and Leather-head to scramble to catch up. I laughed, and slowed down. We walked in silence, keeping everyone in suspense. We soon arrived at a familiar grate across one side tunnel me and Don had seen in city planning a while ago.

"Leather-head, if you would do the honors?" Don asked, gesturing toward the grate. Leather-head quickly ripped the grate off it's hinges with a roar.

"Follow me!" Don said, leading us into the darkness beyond the grate opening. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leather-head smile, and lead Mikey into the tunnel with a gentle hand on his shoulder. I gave my friend a smile he didn't see, as we went through a very short tunnel, and arrived in an old, abandoned subway station. It was beautiful, and spacious. Perfect living conditions. Five minutes from our lair, in case of emergencies, and such.

"Don...where are we?" Leo asked. I smirked, and gestured for Don to take the floor.

"It's an abandoned station from the 19th century. Me and Ami here found it on some archived blue-prints we hacked off the City Hall computers."

"From a safe distance, obviously." I added wryly, leaning against my genius brother's shoulder. He suddenly moved, causing me to collapse.

"Ugh! No fair, Donnie-boy!" I cried, as I stood and dusted myself off.

"It's beautiful." Leather-head commented.

"Yep." Lupa agreed, eying the place with wide eyes.

"Here, you'll be three minutes away from the Lair." Don explained.

"And it'll give ya some space to work things out!" Raph noted.

"I don't know you to thank you ." Leather-head said. I leaned against his forearm (the only place I could reach) and smiled up at him.

"No problem, Leather-head. We want you to be happy." I said, and shoved off, as Mikey leaned against Leo's shoulder.

"You don't have to thank us, Leather-head." Leo said.

"Yeah. Us mutants gotta stick together!" Mikey added, playfully thumping his brother's chest. "Family and all that."

Leather-head's head dipped a little. "Yes." He said, and lifted his head again. "Family." He added, gazing up, deep in thought, likely. We left for home after making sure Leather-head was settled in properly, and returned home to face an extremely worried, and anxious Splinter. He only settled down after we explained in full detail everything that happened in the sewers we call home.


End file.
